by Konstantina Konstantinidou

Paper Conservator

Check it, pack it, wrap it, seal it. Relax at business lounge. Ensure it's in the same plane with you, and then relax. 20 + hours later... Unwrap it, unpack it, check it, and see it safely put in place.

The Art Gallery of Ballarat (Victoria, Australia) has installed a new exhibition For Auld Lang Syne: Images of Scottish Australia from First Fleet to Federation celebrating the influence of Scotland in Australia, by uniting items from across Australia and beyond. The exhibition explores the way Scottish people and culture have influenced the development of the Australian nation.

The Gallery have done a great job bringing together a varied international collection to tell this part of the country's cultural history, many of which have never been seen alongside each other. The Natural History Museum Library & Archives were very happy to contribute 8 watercolours by Thomas Watling (c1767-1797), from Dumfries.  Watling arrived in Australia with the First Fleet, not as an artist however, but as a convicted forger.

So, finally, the Watling drawings are back in Australia, and on the opening night find themselves displayed in front of viewers dressed in tartan and all things Scottish, and suddenly they fall into place. Mission accomplished, and now the long journey home.

More information about the First Fleet Collection and specifically The Watling Collection.

The exhibition runs until 27th July 2014.

For more information follow The Art Gallery of Ballarat via Twitter @artgalbal

(Many thanks to The Art Gallery of Ballarat for the use of their images from Twitter.)